Change of Harte (Harte, #2) (Harte Series) (10 page)

Chapter 19

A little over an hour later, Julian was sitting on the couch in the sitting room of his Long Island business home, staring out at the tall willow trees in his garden that swayed in the angry December wind. His hand was still wrapped in the material Anthony had ripped from his shirt and handed to Julian as they drove at breakneck speed toward the suburbs. The white material was now completely stained red and hard and stiff with dried blood.

‘She’s asleep,’ Mrs. Cartwright said appearing from one of the bedrooms off the open plan living area.

Julian smiled. ‘Thank you. She needs to sleep that crap off.’

‘She needs her stomach pumped, Julian.’

‘I can’t go near the hospital; they’ll be all over it like a rash.’

‘What on earth were you thinking?’ Mrs. Cartwright scolded, walking into the kitchen. She returned seconds later with a bowl of water, some gauze, and cotton wool from the cupboard.

Julian shook his head. ‘I had to get her out of there. Cameron doesn’t have much time, and I gave him my word that I’d help her.’

‘Did your word involve trying to kill yourself in the process? Christ, Julian, I’ve seen you do some stupid things over the years and I always hold my tongue. I do. But tonight’s stunt was just insane. You can’t even take her near the hospital, you said yourself they’ll be watching it. What good is all that to Cameron now, you can’t even visit.’

‘His girls are safe. That’s all the good he needs.’

‘Are they? Are they safe? What happens when they find you? Or worse, find Eva. What happens then, Julian?’

Julian stood up and flung the blood stained rag on the floor. ‘They will never find Eva. She’s not involved in this.’

‘But Melissa is her sister. She needs to see her.’

Julian slammed his fist on the corner of the couch and blood gushed between his fingers like water rushing through an open dam.  ‘They can’t meet. Not now, maybe not ever.’

Mrs. Cartwright rushed to the couch where the colour was draining from Julian’s face. ‘Sit down. This needs seeing to.’

Julian closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the soft cream leather. The cooled boiled water stung as it trickled against his jagged wounds.

‘And what if they follow you and find her?’ Mrs. Cartwright whispered as she dabbed wet cotton wool against his skin.

‘That won’t happen.’

‘And you can guarantee that.’

‘Yes.’

‘I think you’ve bitten off more than you can chew this time, Julian.’

Anthony, who hadn’t spoken since they’d arrived back and Julian had asked him to lock the car in the garage completely out of view, finally stood up from his corner of the sofa. He poured a generous measure of whiskey into an old tumbler and passed it into Julian’s free hand.

‘It won’t happen because he won’t be seeing Eva again. The plane leaves for Dublin late tonight.’ Anthony said.

‘Sweet Jesus, Julian, you can’t do that to the poor girl. You’ve only just walked back into her life. You’ll put her head spinning.’

‘I have to protect her.’

‘By leaving her again? At least give her the option to go with you. She will, you know. I think she’ll go.’

‘I can’t ask her that. It wouldn’t be fair.’

‘It wouldn’t be fair not to.’

‘Anne. It’s done. Evangeline stays out of this. We leave tonight.’

Julian walked away without another word. He stopped outside Melissa’s bedroom door and slowly creaked it open a fraction. She looked comfortable in the large bed surrounded by pillows and crisp cotton linens. She looked less fragile than earlier. A tiny smile was emphasised by her rosy lips and Julian could see a similarity to her younger sister. He wondered why he hadn’t seen it sooner, straight away. He closed the door again and glanced at the security monitor in the hall just outside the bedroom. The old oak trees in the garden swayed in the winter wind. Thick clouds littered the sky, filtering the sunlight to send eerie greyish-blue hues down the sweeping drive. The stillness of the world outside was a dramatic contrast to the pounding in Julian’s head. Everything outside looked normal. But everything inside was so far from normal it hurt.

Julian stepped into the shower and exhaled with a deep groan as the warm water cascaded against his aching shoulder. Shelly was right. He should have left Eva alone. It was his own damn selfishness that had forced him to see her again—his desperation for her touch, her smell. He grabbed his cock and pulled his hand from the shaft to the tip, one slow hard pump and he let go. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t wank. He was aching for sex. For the pleasure it gave him, for the ability to forget everything else, for those moments while he was getting laid. But he was aching for sex with Eva. Nothing else could offer consolation. He wanted her soft lips around him, sucking him hard, making him feel like all the bad shit that ever happened—all the bad shit that could ever happen—didn’t matter if he had her. Nothing ever mattered if he had her. And now he was leaving her as suddenly as he’d arrived.

Chapter 20

Julian’s eyes were burning in his head as he pulled on some old jeans and a white t-shirt. He hadn’t had more than a few minutes’ sleep at a time since he left Dublin, but no matter how tired he was, he couldn’t sleep now. He’d phoned the hospital to check on Cameron earlier while he watched Melissa sleep. He’d politely asked them to pass on the message that she was with him and doing well. Two hours later, when the same number appeared in Julian’s caller ID, he knew what news to expect.

The doctor broke the news gently, with soft tones and simple language, and of course, the doctor expressed his sympathies and told Julian he was very sorry for his loss. Julian found himself smiling as he hung up the phone. Cameron had no more unfinished business. He trusted Julian to protect his girls where he had failed.

With Cameron gone, and Melissa back in Ireland with him, the Da Luca brothers would have no obvious link back to Eva.

Julian pulled a chair from the kitchen and sat outside the guest room where Melissa remained sleeping soundly. He knew they hadn’t been followed, but he was still struggling to leave her alone.

He drifted in and out of a fitful sleep, memories of his childhood and his family teasing his semi-conscious state. He woke to raised voices on his front porch.

Anthony was at the hall door trying to pacify a heated Shelly. Julian was beside him in seconds. ‘How did you get here?’

‘What? What do you mean, how did I get here? I got on the bloody bus. How do you think?’

‘Did anyone see you?’

‘What? What are you on? Of course, people saw me. It’s the middle of the day.’

Julian caught her arm roughly, just above her elbow, and shook her a little. ‘I mean were you followed. Who knows you’re here?’

‘No. No one knows. Julian, you’re hurting me. Jesus.’

Shelly jerked away, but Julian tightened his grip. He pulled her inside and stepped out onto the porch to look around. Satisfied there was nothing out of the ordinary, Julian closed the door with a resounding bang. ‘It’s okay, Anthony. I have this.’

‘Now’s not a good time, Shell.’

‘You don’t say,’ Shelly snapped rubbing her arm. ‘I just wanted to let you know Eva has gone crazy, but I guess she’s not the only one who’s deranged today.’

‘Were you with her? Where is she now?’ Julian’s questions shot at a trembling Shelly like angry word pistols. He was scaring her. Good. Maybe in the future she wouldn’t turn up on his doorstep unannounced, leading anyone right to him.

‘I left her at the tattoo parlour.’

‘Tattoo?’

‘Well, she changed her mind, and she’s getting a piercing now.’

‘Okay.’

‘I couldn’t talk her out of it. I think she wants to show you at dinner tonight. See how this is all your fault?’

Julian ran his hands from the bottom of his face up, pushing his cheeks into his eyes he pressed so hard. Shelly was hurting his head.

‘A piercing, Julian. That’s not Eva.’

Julian took a pause from his brain stewing to imagine Eva with a small metal ring sitting in the centre of her tongue. His cock rustled like a reflex.

‘So, she’s gone home then, I assume.’

‘No. She was still there when I left her. I thought you could call her and tell her how stupid she’s being.’

Julian shook his head. Shelly’s mother-like worry was such a huge contrast to the situation she’d unknowingly walked in on that if he weren’t so exhausted, Julian would have laughed in her face.

‘What should I do with this?’ Mrs. Cartwright asked, walking out of Melissa’s room holding up Melissa’s tattered corset with Vertigo written across the back in graffiti style lettering. ‘Seems it’s all she has. I don’t know whether to wash it or throw it out. I’ve given her one of your shirts. It’ll do for now, but the poor thing will need some proper clothes.’

The colour drained from Shelly’s face as she stared viciously at Julian. ‘Not a good time, then? Well, you’re dead fucking right; it’s not a good time. Seriously, Julian. A stripper. And from Vertigo. That’s that place Nathan told me about.’

Julian's eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. ‘Nathan? What’s Vertigo got to do with him?’

‘Don’t try to change the subject.’

Julian grabbed Shelly by the shoulder and pulled her to stand directly in front of him. ‘Don’t fuck with me, Shelly. Not now. What does Nathan know about Vertigo?’

Shelly stared back, her breathing quickened and her chest heaved. Julian let go. 

‘Nothing, Julian. He just mentioned the name,’ she said taking a step back and patting down her clothes. ‘Maybe he’s desperate for a shag. Everybody knows they moonlight as hookers in there.’ Shelly’s hands flew to her face. ‘Oh, sweet Jesus, she’s a hooker, isn’t she?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh, you’ve got to be fucking joking... What about the lecture you gave me about hookers. All about how they’re trapped by circumstance and stuff. Trapped by assholes like you, you mean.’

Julian didn’t move.

‘I can’t. I mean, I just fucking can’t. This will kill her, you know. I told you to leave her alone. I asked you not to go near her at the party. But oh no. You just couldn’t help yourself. You just had to have it all. Well, fuck you, Julian. Fuck you.’

Julian shook his head and a rile smirk pinched his lips. ‘Finished now, are you?’

‘A prostitute?’ Shelly threw her arms wide apart, defeated.

‘Let’s not glorify things. You were right the first time. She’s a hooker. She charges by the hour, and when I brought her here this morning, she was so off her head I’m surprised she even knew her own name.’

Shelly snorted. ‘I’d be surprised if you knew it, either. You’re not one to ask.’

‘I didn’t have to ask. I already knew exactly who she was.’

‘Miss Shelly,’ Mrs. Cartwright interrupted. ‘You picked this up all wrong.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Shelly snapped. ‘You’re bound to defend him; you’re practically his mother.’

‘Thank you, Anne. But Shelly is entitled to her opinion,’ Julian said.

Mrs. Cartwright nodded slowly and backed away. The use of her first name had the effect Julian intended. He did not want this conversation to continue.

‘And to think…you were the first person I thought to come to when I was worried about Eva,’ Shelly said.

Julian brushed past Shelly; his patience threadbare now. ‘Excuse me, Shelly. I need some sleep.’

‘Just walk out, Julian. It’s what you’re best at.’

Julian couldn’t miss Mrs. Cartwright’s face reddening like someone was shoving a chili up her nose. Her reaction warmed his heart. She was used to defending him when he was being an arse; it must really have been killing her not to say anything now when he was in the right.

‘Will I call you if Miss Andrews wakes,’ Mrs. Cartwright asked as Julian walked away.

Julian turned around and smiled. It was a subtle reminder from the elderly lady not to underestimate her.

‘Oh my, have I put my foot in it,’ she said, smirking and tossing her eyebrows.

Julian waited for the familiarity of Melissa’s surname to resonate with Shelly. It was actually quite entertaining to watch her eyes widen and her nostrils twitch as she tried, and failed, to play it cool.

‘Oh, my God. Eva’s sister is the hooker. Have you been…you know…with her?’

Julian looked Shelly up and down. He wasn’t prepared to entertain that question with an answer.

‘Eva’s going to be blown away.’

Julian’s temper was bubbling just below the surface. ‘You can’t tell her.’

‘What. Why?’

‘Because I said so.’

‘That’s not fair. They’re sisters.’ Shelly pressed her hands against her hips. ‘It’s fate, anyway. Of all the tattoo places in New York, where did Eva pick today? The place across the road from Vertigo. And to think her sister was inside at the time, that’s just mad.’

Julian was back in front of Shelly in an instant, his hand on her shoulders cementing her to the floor. ‘Is she still there now?’

‘Eva? Yeah, sure, that’s what I was trying to tell you. She was still there when I left, but I don’t know about now. It might be too late.’

Julian raced into his room and grabbed one of his freshly pressed suits from his wardrobe. ‘Get the car, Anthony,’ he shouted back toward the sitting room as he dressed as quickly as he could.

‘But I thought we were lying low,’ Anthony shouted back.

‘Change of plan. I’m going to dinner,’ Julian said appearing just moments later, slipping his cufflinks into his shirt and pulling on his jacket. ‘Watch her,’ he said to Mrs. Cartwright, casting his eyes toward Melissa’s room. ‘And her,’ he added glancing at Shelly. ‘I won’t be late.’